How to compare funeral directors · Page 1 of 6

What a funeral director does

A funeral director arranges the parts of a funeral that come before the burial or cremation: caring for the person who has died, the legal paperwork, the coffin, the service and the transport. The cemetery or crematorium is a separate business with its own fees and, in NSW, its own regulator, so knowing where one stops and the other starts is the first step in comparing two directors.

General information, not legal or financial advice. Each state checks funeral directors in its own way. This page names the official body for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia; elsewhere, ask your state or territory’s fair trading or consumer affairs office.

Two businesses, one funeral

Up to the gates

Western Australia’s Metropolitan Cemeteries Board explains a phrase some funeral directors use: their part of a funeral runs “up to the gates”. That means the arrangements before the cemetery, including the journey there. From that point, the chapel, the interment, a condolence lounge and any catering are arranged through the cemetery.

Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW draws the same line in a fact sheet. In NSW, it says, funeral directors are regulated by NSW Fair Trading, and cemetery and crematorium operators by Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW. Its list of who does what reads like this.

The funeral director

  • Transports and cares for the person who has died
  • Mortuary care, preparation, dressing, and placing the person in a coffin or shroud
  • Registers the death with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
  • Obtains the legal documents, such as the death certificate, the medical certificate of cause of death and, if needed, the application for cremation
  • Places newspaper notices
  • Organises a venue for the service
  • Arranges personal choices for the service: a viewing, the coffin or shroud, the order of service, flowers and music
  • Leads the service, or arranges a religious leader, celebrant or someone else to

The cemetery or crematorium

  • Runs the cemetery or crematorium and looks after its grounds and gardens
  • Helps choose the place within the cemetery
  • Grants interment rights: the right to a place for a burial, or for ashes
  • Sets up memorials that go with an interment right
  • Digs and fills the grave, or places the ashes
  • Holds services in its own chapels and function spaces
  • Keeps a register of every burial and cremation there
  • Reports its activity to Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW each year

Summarised from the Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW fact sheet on the difference between a funeral director and a cemetery operator, written in June 2023. It describes NSW.

The line matters for comparing because the cemetery’s or crematorium’s charges usually reach you through the director. The NSW Government lists paying the various fees, called disbursements, among a director’s usual services, and gives cemetery or crematorium fees as an example. In NSW those fees are set by the cemetery and crematorium operators, not the director, and they vary across the state. When two quotes differ, it helps to know which lines belong to the director and which they are passing on. Cremation, burial and the cemetery’s own fees looks at the cemetery’s side.

Choosing no funeral service does not remove the director’s side altogether. The NSW fact sheet notes that there are still rules for the care, storage, transport and burial or cremation of the person who has died, and that a funeral director can provide those even when no service is held.

State by state

Who checks a funeral director

Here is what the official pages of four states say about the funeral business itself, rather than its prices.

New South Wales

The NSW Government says funeral directors “do not need a licence and can set up business without any specific training or qualifications”, and that some may take commissions for using certain products or suppliers. They are still bound by public health, local government and work health and safety laws, the Fair Trading Act 1987 and the Australian Consumer Law, the funeral information standard (part of the Fair Trading Regulation 2019), and the Funeral Funds Act 1979.

The information standard reaches further than the word “funeral director” suggests. NSW Fair Trading says it “covers anyone who runs a business arranging the collection, transport, storage, preparation or embalming of bodies for burial or cremation”, including death doulas and funeral brokers. Separately, NSW Health’s Public Health Regulation 2022 controls the premises for storing and preparing bodies and how bodies are handled, and NSW Health keeps a register of mortuaries.

Victoria

A funeral provider must give its registration details to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria and tell it of changes within 14 days. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes a public register of the providers that have told it they are operating under the Funerals Act 2006, with a plain warning that the register is “only as accurate as the information provided to us”. The Act also requires a provider to offer the option of a basic funeral service.

Queensland

The Queensland Government’s guide describes rules on pricing, and a voluntary code of conduct for the Queensland funeral industry. When choosing a provider, it suggests asking whether they follow the Queensland Funeral Industry Code of Conduct.

Western Australia

Legislation in Western Australia requires funeral directors to be licensed. The Metropolitan Cemeteries Board issues licences to conduct funerals at the six metropolitan cemeteries it manages: Karrakatta, Fremantle, Midland and Guildford cemeteries, and Pinnaroo Valley and Rockingham Regional Memorial Parks. Outside those, regional cemetery boards or local councils license them.

The Board’s licence comes with conditions. A licensed director must follow its code of conduct, meet its standards, have suitable equipment, vehicles, facilities and insurances, give the Board a national police clearance every five years and take part in ongoing professional development. The Board reviews each licence every year. WA also has its own pricing rules for funeral directors, set out by Consumer Protection.

Before you choose

Checking the business in front of you

  • In Victoria, look the provider up on Consumer Affairs Victoria’s public register of funeral providers. It shows current registrations only.
  • In NSW, a director must disclose where the mortuary or crematorium it uses is and, if it does not own it, the name of the owner or manager. NSW Health’s mortuary register lists mortuaries by business name, local health district and address, so the two can be read together.
  • Also in NSW, NSW Fair Trading keeps a Complaints Register of businesses that have had 10 or more complaints lodged against them in one calendar month.
  • In the Perth metropolitan area, the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board publishes its list of licensed funeral directors on its choosing a funeral director page.
  • Industry associations. Some directors belong to a professional association. NSW Fair Trading says associations like these often subscribe to a code of conduct, and that the consumer guarantees apply to everyone, member or not.

What the Board in Perth suggests you expect

The Metropolitan Cemeteries Board’s advice is short and kind. Don’t let a funeral director rush you into decisions; if you are not ready, say so. Read every contract before signing it, and ask questions or have a family member or friend read it with you. Expect to be treated with compassion, respect, understanding and integrity. It is written for families in Perth.

Once you have two names you are comfortable with, two quotes, side by side shows how to compare what they each put in writing, and questions to ask gives you a page to fill in as you talk to each of them.